The Forever Song by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Forever Song
Author: Julie Kagawa
Series: Blood of Eden #3 
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: April 15, 2014

Summary from Goodreads:
Vengeance will be hers.

Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster? With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.

Monster.

Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions - her creator Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost - the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.

In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, her triumph will be short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.

THE FINAL HUNT IS ON.

Review

I started The Immortal Rules with a  sea of hype surrounding it to which it unfortunately did not live up to. So when I started The Eternity Cure, my expectations were a lot lower but then it blew me away. The Forever Song fell somewhere between the two. Not quite as exciting as TEC, but the ending was great.

The majority of TFS was about the hunt for Sarren.  These travel-dominated type books with engineered moments of action/suspense almost always fall flat to me, so I think that is why this one fell short of 5 stars, but Julie Kagawa still writes it better than most. The not-so-unexpected arrival of a certain someone that was in an unexpected state of mind absolutely crushed me (hah, my attempt at spoiler-free). But that was about the only thing of note until the crew arrives in Eden. But from that moment on, things were all uphill. My only qualm was that Sarren was like a cheesy horror film villain in that he could not be killed. After his like 5th resurrection (I don't know how many, it just felt like a lot), I found myself thinking "Can he just die already?". But the ending was really strong and full of action and I enjoyed it very much so.

Jackal wormed his way into my heart in TEC and remains the highlight of this series for me. His humor was perfect and I found myself smiling or laughing almost everytime he opened his mouth. As for Sarren, he is still one of the creepiest villains I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. *Shudders*. In general this series has a really strong set of characters and a lot of interesting relationship dynamics. But I am afraid to say anything more about anyone else so as not to spoil anything.

This was the first series I read by Julie Kagawa but I can guarantee that it won't be the last. I understand why she has such a strong fan base now. Even in a genre that is so oversaturated, she knows how to set herself apart. I definitely recommend this series.

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Eternity Cure
Series: Blood of Eden #2
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Pages: 434
Source: Audible, Audiobook

Summary from Goodreads:
In Allison Sekemoto's world, there is one rule left: Blood calls to blood

She has done the unthinkable: died so that she might continue to live. Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie's birthplace in New Covington, what Allie finds there will change the world forever—and possibly end human and vampire existence.

There's a new plague on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of humanity generations ago—and this strain is deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries, if Allie can get to him in time.

Allison thought that immortality was forever. But now, with eternity itself hanging in the balance, the lines between human and monster will blur even further, and Allie must face another choice she could never have imagined having to make.

Review

Oh my god, this sequel was amazing!!

Just days ago I posted my review of The Immortal Rules and was sad to say that I wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped to be. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it. But this book. THIS BOOK. This book impressed me. This book I loved.

The Eternity Cure was so much more than The Immortal Rules in so many ways. Most noticeably, the plot moved at a much faster pace and the stakes were MUCH higher. There was never a dull moment in this book. In fact, I was almost in a constant state of nervous excitement. And although that ending left me sobbing and speechless, I have to say that the events in this book were perfectly orchestrated for maximum feels. So so good.

And I feel like the characters really grew into themselves. Allie was challenged a hell of a lot more, both physically and emotionally. She had to make a lot of really difficult decisions and I think that made her strong and compassionate personality come through even more so. And Zeke. *sigh*. I was not swooning Zeke in The Immortal Rules but I am swooning Zeke now. Hard. He was so much more badass this time around but still managed to keep that sweet way of his. And I never thought I'd say this, but Jackal grew on me. I might even care about him a little which makes me feel weird. His commentary was much appreciated. As for Sarren, he might just be the creepiest villain I have ever had the non-pleasure of reading about EVER. My god this guy gave me the chills and will in all likelihood give me nightmares as well. And Kanin was Kanin. He turned into this fatherly figure in my eyes. Rock solid.

Let's just say I now understand what all the fuss is about. This book pulled me in, made my care for these characters, and left me dying to pick up The Forever Song (although to be honest I am a little scared to). It was expertly written and feel-inducing. I am still in awe.

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Immortal Rules
Series: Blood of Eden #2
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Pages: 485
Source: Audible, Purchased

Summary from Goodreads:
To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness….

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for… again.

Review

I don't have all the much to say about The Immortal Rules. It didn't impress me as much as I had hoped - there are a lot of fans of this series - but I still enjoyed the story.

The beginning was really strong. I loved that Allie turned into a vampire and thought it made for an interesting twist. Since I have a problem with reading synopses, I forgot this little fact and was pleasantly surprised. I was really into it when Kanin was training her and her internal struggle over becoming this thing that she hated was believable. I liked Allie.

It was when Allie and Kanin separated and Allie joined the group of humans that things started to slow for me. I don't know if it's just me, but I almost always get bored when the characters are traveling, searching, whatever you want to call it. Allie's predicament of having to hide the fact that she was a vampire made for some interesting moments but ultimately my attention wavered. It didn't help that I wasn't swooning over Zeke. The budding romance was just ok for me but I don't know if that was because of my lack of interest in the pilgrimage.

But towards the end things started to pick back up and the book pulled me back in. There was a lot of action and Allie got to be badass on more than one occasion, which I always love. I mean, she's a vampire, let's have fun with that! And we get a lot of helpful background information like how rabids came to be and who the important players are. The book definitely ended on a strong note.

I'm curious to see where this story is going so I've already started The Eternity Cure (so far so good!). I definitely think this series has promise and would recommend it to fans of paranormal/vampire fiction.